My Formula For Enjoying Life's Journey

On the diagram Point A is where you're currently at. 

The goal you've set for yourself is Point B. 

In between those two points is C. 

That's the space you fill in with actions to get from A to B.
It can be filled with fear, anxiety, despair and a sense of dread at the tasks it will take to get there, all of which will probably sabotage your end goal.

Or it can be filled with a sense of adventure, the thrill of taking on challenges, excitement of daring to step into something new, and a genuine sense of accomplishment when you get there.

Now which do you think makes the journey more rewarding and memorable?

Voices of Dissent

As I move closer to my goal of a new career I've noticed something. The more I succeed the louder and more intense are the voices of the naysayers. You know, those people who would never have the guts to try and do what I'm doing. Those people who are so afraid to look at their own lives, but have no problem looking at mine and criticizing it.
It's taken me a long time, a good deal of soul-searching, and courage to stop listening to those people. And I'm so much better for it.

Life Is Like A Movie

Life is like a movie. There are no retakes of the scenes we don't like. However, we do get to pick the script, the cast, and the locations. Whether the movie is a success or a flop is completely up to us.

Breaking Down Goals

My dad is full of "Dadisms", those nuggets of wisdom disguised as metaphors or stories in the way that only a dad can tell. My dad has a great one though, "Keep chopping and the chips will start flying." As much as I roll my eyes at the silliness of the delivery of his advice, he's so right. It's one I make sure I remember when I feel overwhelmed. I have to break each goal down into its smaller tasks. Doing so makes the goal seem not so daunting. And conquering the smaller tasks keeps me motivated to keep moving forward. I think so many of us get derailed on our goals because we don't break a task down like that. It's something we could all learn to do more, I think.

The Power of Dreams

I'm a believer in the message and power of dreams. Metaphor is a potent form of non-verbal communication and I think that's what dreams are. It's our unconscious mind's way of communicating with the conscious self.

I share a good many of my dreams with my friend Dan. He too is a believer in the power of dreams as I am. I discussed with him a dream I had last night, and our conversation helped me understand the full meaning of it.

I dreamed last night that I was trying to sew patches of fabric onto a glass window pane. The needle kept breaking and I was unable to get the patches sewn onto the glass. Dan's take was that the window represents light, sight, and clarity. My interpretation was to stop trying to do things that don't work for me. Dan replied that perhaps it meant to stop doing things that aren't working while reaching for the light. Combining the two notions I came to the conclusion that the dream meant to stop doing things (trying to sew fabric onto glass) that were blocking me from the realization of my goals (letting the light in).

If we have the curiosity and patience to investigate the meaning behind the message of our dreams, we can unlock a great many things.